ENERGY CONSERVATION
Energy efficiency is one of the most economical sources of saving energy. Using energy more efficiently helps in:
- It reduces carbon emissions.
- It lowers costs.
- It conserves the supplies we have.
HOW TO SAVE ENERGY AT YOUR HOME???
Decreasing your energy consumption at home will also minimize pollution on a global scale and save you money on the household level. Most energy-saving methods are easy to implement and go a very long way.
Air Conditioners
- Prefer air conditioners having automatic temperature cut off.
- Keep regulators at "low cool" position.
- Operate the ceiling fan in conjunction with your window air conditioner to spread the cooled air more effectively throughout the room and operate the air conditioner at higher temperature.
- Seal the doors and windows properly.
- Leave enough space between your air conditioner and the walls to allow better air circulation.
- A roof garden can reduce the load on Air Conditioner.
- Use windows with sun films/curtains.
- Set your thermostat as high as comfortably possible in the summer. The less difference between the indoor and outdoor temperatures, the lower will be energy consumption.
Turning your thermostat down by just 1 degree can reduce your energy consumption by over 5 percent. You won't even notice the difference in room temperature. On the same note, don't heat rooms when you are not using them.
- Don't set your thermostat at a colder setting than normal when you turn on your air conditioner. It will not cool your home any faster and could result in excessive cooling.
- Don't place lamps or TV sets near your air-conditioning thermostat. The thermostat senses heat from these appliances, which can cause the air conditioner to run longer than necessary.
- Plant trees or shrubs to shade air-conditioning units but not to block the airflow. A unit operating in the shade uses as much as 10% less electricity than the same one operating in the sun.
Television / DVD Player
Turn off and unplug all appliances you are not using, especially by switching off lights when you leave the room. 85% of the energy used by a DVD player is wasted when it is on standby. And don't forget that equipment when fully charged continues to draw electricity - so unplug that mobile phone/camera
Appliances left on standby mode can draw an average of 5-10 percent of household energy use! And if you need light during the day, open the curtains. Let the sun shine in and use it as light.
Computers
Leaving the screen saver on will not save any energy. Screen savers can use more energy than when you are using the computer yourself, and can reduce the life of your monitor. Enable the display blanking feature to automatically turn off the monitor when your computer is idle. You can save a lot by enabling your computer to 'sleep' automatically when you are not using. Another way to reduce power while using computers is to reduce screen brightness. This will also increase the battery time for your laptop.
Washing machines
- Only use the washing machine when you have collected a full load. Always wash only with full loads. If you must wash a partial load, use the economy or half load setting.
- Use optimal quantity of water.
- Use timer facility to save energy.
- Use the correct amount of detergent.
- Use hot water only for very dirty clothes.
- Always use cold water in the rinse cycle.
- Prefer natural drying over electric dryers Tumble dryers use up a huge amount of energy. If possible, hang your clothes on a line instead. This is better for your clothes as well.
Refrigerator
- Don't leave fridge or freezer doors open for longer than necessary by pondering over the contents of the fridge., (as it takes each minute a fridge door is left open takes three minutes to cool back down again) and don't forget your freezer needs to be defrosted regularly for it to run efficiently.
Remember to let food cool before putting into the fridge, Avoid putting hot or warm food straight into the fridge
- Make sure your refrigerator door seals are airtight.
- Cover liquids and wrap foods stored in the refrigerator. Uncovered foods release moisture and make the compressor work harder.
- Do not open the doors of the refrigerators frequently.
- Make sure your refrigerator door seals are airtight.
- Cover liquids and wrap foods stored in the refrigerator. Uncovered foods release moisture and make the compressor work harder.
- Important fact which is not commonly known to the masses is that Refrigeration should not be placed in the Kitchen, as the heat generated during the cooking process enters the refrigerator thereby overloading it leading to High Energy consumption.
Kitchen Appliances
- Mixers
- Avoid dry grinding in your food processors ( mixers and grinders) as it takes longer time than liquid grinding.
- Microwaves Ovens
- Consumes 50 % less energy than conventional electric / gas stoves.
- Do not bake large food items.
- Unless you're baking breads or pastries, you may not even need to preheat.
- Don't open the oven door too often to check food condition as each opening leads to a temperature drop of 25°C.
- Electric Stove
- Turn off electric stoves several minutes before the specified cooking time.
- Use flat-bottomed pans that make full contact with the cooking coil.
- Gas Stove
- When cooking on a gas burner, use moderate flame settings to conserve LPG.
- Remember that a blue flame means your gas stove is operating efficiently.
- Yellowish flame is an indicator that the burner needs cleaning.
- Use pressure cookers as much as possible.
- Use lids to cover the pans while cooking.
- Bring items taken out of refrigerators (like vegetables, milk etc) to room temperature before placing on the gas stove for heating.
- Use Solar Water Heater - a good replacement for a electric water heater.
Some More Easy Actions to Save Energy
- Install Energy Saving Products & Solutions.
- Always Set your Air Conditioners temperature at 24°C.
- Switch off and unplug all appliances that aren't being used.
- Turn off the lights if no one is in the room for more than 5 minutes.
- Maintain good air flow by cross ventilation & avoid using air conditioners when not required.
- Use a laptop instead of a desktop computer, as desktop computers consumes more than double electricity as compared to Laptops.
- Install motion sensors for lights in restrooms and conference rooms to save energy when these are not in use. Encourage your employees to discuss and implement energy saving ideas at your work place.
- Do not put bare wires in the plug socket.
- Do not use 2 pin plug and socket.
- Do not put too many wires in one plug socket.
- Do not keep power points within easy reach of children.
- Keep the terminal box covered so that open wires are concealed in the box.
- Do not overload electrical installation.
- Houses should be constructed away from overhead lines.
- Do not hang clothes on electric wires.
- Use ISI Marked Electrolytic Copper wire for house wiring and at other installations.
- Povide efficient and anti - corrosive earthing with copper plate / rods / conductor.
- Provide sufficient circuits to avoid overloading.
- Use MCB / MCCB for control and protection of circuitsand equipments.
- Fly kites in an open area, away from power lines.
- Keep all electrical appliances away from water.
- Throwing things at insulators can damage them, causing danger to you and other people.
- Don't climb trees near overhead power lines, it would prove fatal.
- All outlets within reach, should have safety caps when small children are around.
- Always pull out the plug, not the cord.
- Toys or appliances with broken cords should be repaired or replaced.